A surprising Christmas (part 3)

Christ died for us while we were still sinners. This demonstrates God’s love for us (Romans 5:8).

Do you want to know something surprising about Christmas?  I’ll tell you something surprising—although we act as if Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, it is really only a prologue to something much more significant.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—these four books tell the story of Jesus’ time on earth.  But did you realize only two of them tell us about Jesus’ birth?  Luke is the only one who tells us about Jesus’ birth in a stable; Luke is the only one who speaks of shepherds and choirs of angels.  Matthew just tells us about the coming of the wise men; Mark and John don’t describe Jesus’ birth at all.

It’s wonderful that the Son of God came to join us that long ago night in Bethlehem.  But Jesus came because He had important work to do, and while that work started in the City of David, it would not be completed until 33 years later in Jerusalem.  All four Gospel writers tell us about that.  Each of them gives great detail to Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion, death and resurrection. 

Jesus was born so that He could die.  It was the only way that God could spare us from the punishment which our sins deserve.  The LORD Almighty is holy and righteous—there is no way He could let human wickedness go unpunished.  But at the same time, God loved us with an everlasting love, a love that was unwilling to consign us to hell if there were another way to satisfy justice.  Flouting God’s authority demands the ultimate penalty—death and damnation.  If we were to be spared, someone else would have to suffer and die in our place. 

It was decided that the Son of God would assume this responsibility for us.  But God is eternal—He cannot die.  So the Son of God was born as a human being—born so He could suffer and give up \His life for us.  On the cross, Jesus experienced the hell we had coming for our wickedness; on the cross, the Son of God died so we might live forever. 

The amazing thing about Christmas is that it took place under the shadow of a future cross; God sent His Son to earth so He could die.  That’s how much God loves you.